Why are railroads narrow gauge?

Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, and lighter rails, they can be less costly to build, equip, and operate than standard- or broad-gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain).

Why do railways have different gauges?

Nature of Country: In mountainous country, it is advisable to have a narrow gauge of the track since it is more flexible and can be laid to a smaller radius on the curves. This is the main reason why some important railways, covering thousands of kilometers, are laid with a gauge as narrow as 610 mm.

What is the difference between narrow gauge and broad gauge?

Broad gauge, meter gauge, narrow gauge indicate the width between two rails. The difference in their width is as follows: Broad gauge: 1.676 meters. Narrow gauge: 0.762 meters.

What rail gauge is used in South Africa?

Nearly all railways in South Africa use a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge track. This was selected in the 19th century to reduce the cost of building track across and through the mountains found in several parts of the country. The Gautrain rapid transit railway uses 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 81⁄2 in) (standard gauge).

What is the longest narrow-gauge railway in the world?

There are a lot of different narrow-gauge railways in the world. But one of the longest operating narrow-gauge railways is in the Western part of Ukraine between the villages Antonivka and Zarechnoe. 106 km of track, on which there are dozens of wooden bridges, old semaphores and a lot of other old equipment.

Why are Russian train tracks wider?

According to popular legend, and some railway historians, the Russians made their railway gauge 89 mm broader than the 1435 mm “Stephenson gauge” in order to thwart an eventual invasion. After the German armies invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they changed the gauges back again.

Why does the railway track look broader on one side and narrower on the other?

Broad gauge is also called wide gauge or large line. The distance between the two tracks in these railway gauges is 1676 mm (5 ft 6 in). This gives better stability and they are even better than thinner gauges.

Is standard gauge better than narrow gauge?

As the name suggests, the narrow-gauge railway is essentially distinguished by a smaller gauge width of just 750 mm. This gives it a number of advantages over railways with normal gauges (1435 mm). The narrower gauge enables tighter curves to be taken, especially in valleys and in generally difficult terrain.

Which gauge is used in Indian Railways?

Standard Gauge
Standard Gauge: The distance between two tracks in this type of railway gauge is 4 ft 8½ inches (1435 mm). In India, standard gauge is used for urban rail transit systems like Monorail, Metro, and Tram. The only standard gauge line in India till 2010 was the Kolkata tram system.

Why does India use broad gauge?

Broad gauge is also called wide gauge or large line. The first railway line built in India was a broad gauge line from Bore Bunder (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to Thane in 1853. Broad gauge railway is also used on ports for crane etc. This gives better stability and they are even better than thinner gauges.

Who owns South Africa Railway?

Government of South Africa
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa

How many railways are in South Africa?

Welcome to Rail Branch Prasa owns 2 280 Kilometers of South Africa’s rail network and uses some the 22 000 Kilometers of rail track under the control of Transnet. It has 585 train stations and total fleet of 4 735 coaches, with an overall staff complement of 18 207.